Their Son
by OverEasy
Summary: Third story in The New Guy series. Buffy and Spike's son Braden is in love with his wild best friend Cat. Will he tell her before she runs off into the sunset with someone else? How will stories of his mothers past come into play?
1. Chapter 1

Their Son

Chapter 1

Braden sat on his bed pondering, another year at school, another year and he would be going off to college. Being a senior wasn't nearly as exciting as he thought it would be, he thought it would all be different than any other year. It wasn't.

He still had to get up at a god awful hour; he was a fairly good student. His mother being a teacher had kind of rubbed off on him. He wasn't much of a trouble maker, but that didn't mean he never got in trouble. His best friend Cathy saw to that, Cat had a wild heart. She had since they were little, wherever trouble was Cat was sure to find it. Her parents thought when she got older she would grow out of it, but she never did. Honestly, Braden was very thankful she never grew out of it. Otherwise life might be very dull.

"Mom says if you're not downstairs in 10 minutes she is dragging you down. Even if you're naked." Came his little sister's voice from the doorway. Braden had to laugh; yep, that was his mother.

"Thanks Skylar, tell her I'll be down soon."

Skylar trotted down the stairs and Braden sighed. He grabbed his bag from his bed and followed her down. He smiled wide when he saw Cat and Aunt Willow standing at the bottom of the stairs. Of course Willow wasn't really his aunt but he'd been calling her that since he was young.

"Hey Cat! You ready to go be a senior?" He asked.

Cat smiled up at him; her fiery red hair shining in the morning light. Her hair was pulled into a loose bun, and she was wearing a pair of tight black jeans and a deep green top. Her forest green eyes stood out against her somehow still pale skin. Braden never thought she looked more beautiful.

"Duh." Was her only reply.

"Hey, mom, I think we're gonna head out now. I can drive, it's cool." Braden told his mother.

"Ok, be careful." Buffy practically scolded.

"Darn, I was planning on driving us off a cliff and seeing if we survive the fall." Braden told her sarcastically. His mother smacked him upside the head but smiled anyways.

"Get outta here, go have fun." Willow told them.

They waved one last time and left. Braden opened Cat's door, for her before running around to his side. When he took his seat and looked at his best friend he almost groaned. She had that look on her face again.

"This school won't know what hit 'em." She told him with a smirk.

Braden sighed, knowing she was probably right.

**A/N I know, another short chapter. I am good at that. Pretty much I wanted everyone to see the interaction between the two. **

**The point of making Willow and ****Xander's**** kid a total bad ass: Because they were both ****so**** dorky as teenagers I thought it would only be fair to make their kid a wild child ****lol**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cat watched as Braden ran around the car and opened her door for her. She smiled graciously at him before seeing a few of her friends she hadn't seen all summer. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and ran off to join them. She didn't notice his hand fly up and touch the place her lips had just met.

"Lisa! Heather!" She called. The two girls turned and smiled, waving their hands.

"Hey, how was your summer?" Lisa asked.

"It was ok; I spent most of my time with Braden." Cat explained.

Heather glanced over to where Braden was standing. "You're kidding me? That's Braden? What happened to him over the summer?" She asked in shock.

Braden had changed a lot since the summer started, due in large part to Cat. She had worked very hard to make sure he got noticed this year; the only thing she hadn't counted on was noticing him herself. She cut his once shaggy hair into a stylish shorter cut. In place of his glasses he wore contacts, making sure his ice blue eyes were seen. She had to admit she had worked a miracle on his clothing; in place of old worn out kakis was a pair of jeans. Where there had been an ugly conservative button up shirt, he now wore a black t-shirt. Braden went into the summer a nerd, and came back totally hot.

Cat smirked. "I gave him a makeover." The other girls looked at her in awe. "Well he told me there was some girl at school he was really into but he couldn't catch her attention. I thought I'd lend a hand." She smiled at her friend, who was looking around awkwardly for someone to talk to.

"Cat, you can't really be that dense." Lisa said.

"What do you mean?" Cat asked, clearly confused.

"You are the girl." Heather explained.

"You guys have got to be kidding me! Braden and I have been best friends since we were born pretty much. There is no way…"

"Whatever you say Cat, whatever you say." Lisa said with a smirk.

Cat shook her head and decided it would be best to just ignore the other girls. Still for the rest of the day her mind would wander back to the possibility. All of their lives she had thought of Braden as her best friend, the one that was always there for her. She didn't know if she could ever see him as something more than that.

………………….

Braden always hated the first day of school, he had to sit there all day and meet his new teachers. Most of which he already knew, the fact that his mom was a teacher didn't help at all. He never learned anything on the first day; it was all about meeting up with old friends and hanging out. He thought about how much of a nerd that made him, being upset because for one day in school he didn't learn anything. He thought for a moment about what that meant for him, but quickly decided there was nothing wrong with understanding the value of education.

Braden noticed the little blonde girl next to him staring at him and he glanced in her direction. "Hey." He said.

The girl blushed furiously. "Hi." She replied shyly.

"I'm Braden, are you new around here?" Braden had never seen anyone react to him like that; he wasn't sure what to think of it. 'Must be something to do with that damn makeover Cat just had to do.'

The girl nodded. "Just moved here from Washington." She told him.

"Oh really? I've never been to Washington."

"It's cold and wet, nothing really that great. Well, Seattle is pretty cool." She smiled as she started to relax around him. "By the way, I am Lily."

Braden grinned back at her. "Very nice to meet you Lily. So tell me about Seattle."

The girl started to go on about Seattle and how beautiful it was there, Braden had to smile. Apparently the makeover was a good idea. Now he just wished he could have caught the attention of the right girl.

……………..

The final bell rang and Braden gathered his things to leave, surprisingly he had made a lot of new friends, and gotten several girls phone numbers. I kind of amazed him that the world was still so shallow, he would have thought eventually that people would see past a pretty wrapper. However that didn't seem to be the case.

He wandered through the crowd of people to his car, where he waited patiently for Cat. He spotted her talking to Jared Finn; he felt jealousy bubble inside him but quickly pushed it down. Cat wasn't his girl, and he knew it. Still seeing her with someone like Finn just rubbed him the wrong way. Finn was a user, he was known to serial date, Braden felt his hands ball into fists. 'If he even thinks she will ever let him play her like that he is dead wrong.'

Braden turned away, not able to watch the girl he loved blatantly flirt with the biggest jerk in the school any longer. He started counting backwards from 100 trying to calm himself when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned expecting to see Cat but was pleasantly surprised when he found Lily standing behind him.

"Hey." He said with a smile.

"Hey." Lily smiled; Braden had to admit she was very pretty. "Who are you waiting for?" She asked.

"Best friend." He gestured to where Cat was still flirting with Jared. "She's a little preoccupied by the nice big jock."

Lily grinned. "Well, her loss. I didn't get a chance to give you this earlier." She said, handing him a folded up piece of paper. "So… here."

Braden had to push back a blush, tough guys didn't blush. "Thanks."

"Well, I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah, see ya."

Lily sauntered away, swaying her hips as she went. Braden almost burst out laughing, all he could think was that she probably wouldn't be getting a phone call. He didn't like his girls to be that obvious when it came to getting his attention. 'Right, the little red head you call your best friend has nothing to do with not calling her.' The voice in his head mocked.

'Shut up.' He told it.

**A/N soooo…. What do you think? Let me know!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**A/N So finally I found little inspiration and I have continued this story. Sorry it has taken so long, writers block is a bitch.**

Cat rapped lightly on the window; startling a very unsuspecting Braden. He shot her a look that let her know he didn't appreciate waiting, but as always kept his mouth shut. She simply gave him a wide grin and took her seat.

"So I hear you were a hit with the ladies today Mr. Hotstuff." She giggled.

"Yeah, it was great." He told her sarcastically. "I love being drooled over by mindless drones."

"You are so damn negative. So did you talk to that girl you were telling me about?"

Braden groaned inwardly, of course she didn't know that girl was her. "She didn't even look my way." When Cat didn't say anything he continued. "It's all good; I met a few girls that seem ok."

If he didn't know any better it looked like her face fell just the slightest. Though he knew he must have imagined it, still inside his heart leaped.

"Anyone I know?" Cat asked.

"The only one that really seems worth mentioning is Lily. She's new." Braden mentally smacked himself. 'Yeah that's the way to her heart ass hole. Tell her how many girls you find attractive.'

"The pretty little blonde girl you were talking to earlier?" She asked pointedly.

"That's the one."

Cat started rambling about how pretty she was and how he deserved a good girl in his life. He wasn't quite sure what to say, so he just listened and nodded in the right intervals. Of course she would want him to find someone nice; she would never see that in his eyes he had already found the perfect girl. Someone wild, and crazy, and fun. Someone that always kept him guessing no matter how long he'd known her. Someone named Cat.

Braden pulled into the drive way of Cat's house 15 minutes later. He smiled at the familiar chipping white paint and unmowed lawn. "I'll see you tomorrow." He told her as she climbed out of the passengers seat.

"Yeah, I might call you tonight." With that she turned and started walking up the worn path to her house.

……………………..

An hour later Cat was lying on her bed toying with the stuffed kitty Braden had given her for her 6th birthday. She didn't know why the idea of Braden dating made her feel so uneasy. Her mind kept going back to seeing him and Lily talking next to his car. The idea bothered her to say the least, and no matter how much she tried to stop thinking about it she couldn't.

'Why is this bothering you so much? This is _Braden! _He's been your best friend since you were born!" She told herself.

'Yeah but he is pretty good looking…'

'No! No, he's not; he's your best friend. End of story.'

'Keep telling your self that.' Her mind bit back.

……………………………..

Braden smiled at his mother and little sister as he walked through the door. "Hey ladies, how was your day?"

Buffy sighed. "I keep forgetting how troublesome freshman can be. This new batch is going to be a handful."

Braden laughed. "Have fun with that."

Skylar started babbling about her first day of 6th grade and her new teacher. Braden grinned at his little sisters stories; obviously her first day of school was much more interesting than his.

He climbed the stairs up to his room and collapsed onto the bed. He hated himself for not telling Cat how he really felt when he had the chance. He'd had a million chances, and yet he never took them. He reached into his pocket and felt the few pieces of paper that held phone numbers he'd never dial. He felt his fingers tighten around them as he crumpled them, but instead of throwing them into the trash bin like he'd intended he threw them on his nightstand.

'Just in case.' He told himself.

'Just in case what? You never grow the balls to tell Cat how you really feel?'

Braden groaned.

**A/N Sorry for any misspellings or typos, my finger is broken right now so it's kinda hard to type. **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Cat bounced down the stairs the next morning, her giddy energy taking her mother by surprise. "Geez, slow down kiddo." Willow scolded half heartedly.

"Sorry mom." She heard a car horn beep from outside and grabbed her bag. "Gotta run, see you after school." She kissed her mom lightly on the cheek and slung the bag over her shoulder before prancing out the door.

Cat couldn't explain the happiness that flooded through her that morning. Something about her friends telling her that Braden was in love with her made her feel empowered. She felt butterflies bubble within when she saw his car, the words Lisa and Heather had spoken the day before returning to her brain. A part of her was scared of the fact that she was so excited, this was Braden after all. However some part of her realized how much sense it made. 

Since she had known Braden he had always been painfully shy. He'd never dated, though he'd watched her go through countless 'relationships'. Every time she started to see someone new he always told her she could do better. Eventually she would realize he was right and once again he would become the main man in her life. But all the time they'd spent together she never once thought that the object of his admiration could be her. 

The more Cat's mind pondered it the more she saw that it was true, and the more she couldn't stop thinking about it. What if she were to just kiss him, right here, right now? Would that be too forward? Would he find he didn't really like her in the first place? Was she even a good kisser? She'd always been told not to ask, that made to seem insecure and insecurities are unattractive. 

She pushed all of the questions from her mind as she ran for the car, Braden reached across the seat and opened the door for her. 'Always the gentlemen' she though with a smile, realizing how attractive she found that quality.

"Hey how was your night?" Braden asked as he turned the engine over and pulled out of the drive way.

"Pretty good, and you?" Cat replied, suddenly feeling more nervous than ever.

"It was good, the little sister was being a pain, but what can you expect?" 

Cat had to smile thinking of the younger girls crazy antics. "That girl is going to be big trouble someday, mark my words." 

Braden smiled slightly. "Coming from you, should I be afraid?" 

"Very. And hey, what's that supposed to mean?" 

Braden laughed. "What do you think it's supposed to mean?" He asked.

"It's not my fault I have a wild heart, I was born this way." Cat defended.

"Right."

……………

Cat climbed out of the car, laughing harder than she had in a long time. Braden smiled widely as he heard her giggles fill the air. 

"So Kitty Cat, what are you doing tonight?" He asked, using her old nick name. 

Cat stifled her laughter. "I have no idea. Why, is there a movie night in my future?"

Braden grinned, happy that she even remembered. "Well it is tradition."

"And it's wrong to ignore tradition." She said with a smile.

"Very wrong. So I'll see you after school?" He asked, trying not to sound to hopeful.

"Like you don't see me everyday after school." 

Just as the words left her lips the first bell rang and they were sent their separate ways. Thoughts of the pending movie night filling their heads. 

………………

Braden sat impatiently during 4th period. His classes were taking far too long today, and he was tired of waiting. It was only the night before that he had remembered the traditional movie night, and realized that it might be his last chance to make a move before someone else did. Since they were in 3rd grade they had always had movie nights sometime during the first week of school, and they had yet to miss one. Somehow he felt this year was different though, he was different. 

He remembered back when they were young, and how they'd spend the night at each others houses. Back then it wasn't weird for them to spend the night together, now though, her father wouldn't hear of it. Not that good ol' Xander would ever have a problem with Braden, the two always got along, but Cat was his baby girl after all. 

The bell rang, startling him from his thoughts. He started to gather his books to leave when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He jumped a little and turned around only to find Lily standing behind him.

"Oh, hey." He said.

"So I didn't get a call from you last night." She seemed almost angry.

"Uh, yeah, I was busy." Braden couldn't figure out why she was looking at him like he had just kicked her puppy. He hadn't done anything wrong, had he?

"Oh, well if you're not too busy tonight you should give me a call." 

"I can't tonight, I have plans." He said, hoping he wasn't hurting the girl's feelings.

"Ok that's fine." She told him before turning on her heal and storming away. 

Braden stared after her in confusion, what had he done wrong?

…………………………….

Cat tapped her foot impatiently during 6th period; waiting was never her strong suit. She glanced at her watch for the hundredth time, 2:27 it read. Three minutes until the end of the day. Never had she been so excited for a movie night with Braden. Somehow this felt different though, she felt different.

She thought back to the days when they used to spend the night at each others houses, sneaking out in the middle of the night to cause as much trouble as possible. Normally that included buying as much candy as possible and sitting in the park incredibly sugar high, but still it always felt dangerous somehow. She laughed lightly at the memories as they continued to run through her mind. 

The bell rang and she jumped a little, then quickly threw her books in her bag and ran out of the room. She dodged Jared and quickly weaved through the crowd out into the court yard. She walked as casually as she could to Braden's car and waited impatiently for him to get there. She spotted his new black jacket and a smile spread across her face. She leaned up against the car door, grinning like a fool. 

'What the hell is happening to me?' She thought, but quickly pushed away the question.

Braden reached her within minutes and jogged around to unlock her door first, she smiled at him as he opened it for her. Cat had never noticed that he always opened her door for her; it was just something that he always did. But for some reason it stuck in her mind today, standing out like a soar thumb.

"What kind of movie are you up for tonight, horror, comedy?" He asked with a grin.

"The usual." She replied.

"Bloody, gory, horror flick it is then." He said, having to smile. "So you know that girl I told you about yesterday?" 

"Lily?" She asked, her heart falling a little as he mentioned her.

"Yeah, she was being really weird today." Braden recounted her actions from earlier that day with puzzlement, knowing if anyone would know what to think about it, it would be Cat. "So what does that even mean?" He asked after he had told her the story.

"Wow, creepy. I'd say stay away; she seems a little… clingy." Cat replied.

"That's what I thought." 

'Thank god.' Cat thought silently, a smile playing across her face once more.

**A/N, sorry it took so long to post this, I've been busy getting ready to graduate and stuff. Tell me what you think!**


End file.
